Exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relate to environment control systems and, more particularly, to removal of water from an airflow within an aircraft environmental control system (ECS).
As a humid airstream is cooled within a heat exchanger of an environmental control system of an aircraft, condensation typically forms resulting in droplets of moisture being entrained within the airstream. These droplets of moisture are generally removed by a water collector location downstream from the heat exchanger and upstream from an air cycle machine of the environmental control system. If the moisture is not removed from the airstream, within the turbine of the air cycle machine, the droplets may freeze causing a build-up of ice on one or more of the turbine blades. The ice can lead to imbalance due to non-uniform shedding thereof, thereby reducing system reliability and efficiency. The moisture buildup also leads to corrosion of the system components.
A centrifugal means is typically positioned within the flow path of the airstream causing the airstream to spin. The rotation of the airstream results in the stratification of the air stream with the dry air being located at the center of the flow path and the water being arranged about the periphery of the flow path. As the airstream flows into a downstream water separation vessel, the water condenses on the walls of a water receiving portion and then gravity causes the moisture to fall out of the separator as the water is subjected to a tortuous flow path of increasing volume. In conventional environmental control systems, the centrifugal means is arranged in line with the water separation vessel. However, in newer environmental control systems, the flow path between the centrifugal means and the water separation vessel includes at least one bend. As a result, only a portion of the water within the airstream is collected within the water separation vessel.